Naib Singh Saini and Rao Indrajit Singh
Amidst the political heat of the Haryana assembly elections, the BJP is making all possible efforts to achieve a hat-trick of power. BJP has not announced the face of the Chief Minister, but has entered the election field by putting forward the face of CM Naib Singh Saini. In such a situation, Union Minister Rao Indrajit Singh has submitted a claim for the post of Chief Minister. He said that people want him to be the Chief Minister of Haryana. In such a situation, the question is whether the intention of Rao Indrajit Singh will increase the difficulties of the BJP or will it prove to be politically convenient for the party?
Union Minister Rao Indrajit Singh said during the nomination of BJP candidate Laxman Singh on Monday that the road to Haryana seat passes through South Haryana. On the question of becoming CM, Indrajit said that this is not his wish but the wish of the people. Even today people want him to be the CM. He said that if the people here (South Haryana) had never supported BJP, Manohar Lal Khattar would not have become Chief Minister twice.
Rao Indrajit said that he is well aware of the problems in the area. Mostly Congress representatives were here and worked to push back Rewari. Good days are coming for Rewari now. On the one hand, he targeted the Congress by making an issue of the poor condition of the Rewari region and on the other hand, by claiming the CM post, may have increased the anxiety of Naib Singh Saini, but his move may prove to be a vindication. Be politically favorable to BJP.
Like CM Naib Singh Saini, Rao Indrajit Singh also hails from the OBC community. Naib Saini is from Haryana’s GT belt while Union Minister Rao Indrajit is from South Haryana. Both these areas are considered to be strong strongholds of the BJP. However, in 2019, BJP could not flourish in the GT belt area as it did in 2014, while in South Haryana region, it managed to maintain its dominance even more than before. For this reason Rao Indrajit Singh says that the route to Chandigarh passes through South Haryana.
BJP leadership prefers Rao Indrajit
Rao Indrajit Singh inherited politics from his father former CM Rao Birendra Singh. Left Congress and joined BJP in 2014. Rao Indrajit Singh popularly known as Ahirwal is a powerful leader of South Haryana. Ahirwal from Haryana played an important role in bringing the BJP to power in 2014 and 2019. South Haryana has played a major role in bringing any party to power. Rao Indrajit played an important role in bringing the BJP to power for two consecutive terms. Due to which the BJP leadership gives importance to him.
Union Minister Rao Indrajit Singh dominates the list of BJP candidates in Haryana. Rao Indrajit has managed to get tickets for many close people including his daughter. The BJP leadership has considered Indrajit Singh’s likes and dislikes while distributing tickets. Apart from this, in the remaining 23 seats of Haryana, there are some seats where he wants to field his close leaders as candidates. Thus gaining a political grip on the South Haryana belt, Rao Indrajit Singh is eyeing the CM’s chair.
Gurugram, Rewari, Mahendragarh, Nooh, Palwal and Faridabad districts come under South Haryana. There are a total of 23 assembly seats in these five districts, of which BJP won 15, Congress 6 and others two in the 2019 elections. In the 2014 elections, BJP won 14 seats in this area while Congress got 4 seats. Apart from this, INLD won four seats and an independent seat. Thus Congress has gained two seats while BJP has also gained one seat. In 2019, BJP’s performance in South Haryana was better than other regions. That is why Rao Indrajit says that Manohar Lal Khattar became CM twice because of South Haryana.
Who is Rao Indrajit Singh?
Rao Indrajit Singh’s father Rao Birendra Singh has been the Chief Minister of Haryana. After Rao Birendra, no other leader of South Haryana became Chief Minister. Not only this, Rao Birendra Singh was the first CM from the OBC community. Rao Indrajit Singh inherited politics from his father. In 1977, he was elected as MLA from Jatusana seat. He was elected four times as MLA from this seat. He has been a minister in various governments of Haryana. He approached Parliament in 1998. For the first time, he won from the Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seat on a Congress ticket, but lost the election in 1999. After this, he was again elected from Mahendragarh in the 2004 elections. After this, when the Gurugram seat was formed in Semankan, he made it his workplace. After this he is continuously winning from Gurugram seat.
Yadav voters account for about 12 percent in Haryana, a large vote bank. Rao Indrajit is considered to be the biggest and most powerful leader of the Yadav community in Haryana. Despite being in the Congress, Rao Indrajit’s dream of becoming the Chief Minister of Haryana could not be fulfilled. Now he is in BJP and has formed BJP government in the state twice. South Haryana played an important role in forming the BJP government in both 2014 and 2019. Even after this BJP made Manohar Lal Khattar who hails from GT belt area and then handed over the reins of power to Naib Singh Saini.
Now the BJP is desperate to come to power for the third time in Haryana in 2024, when the central Rao Indrajit Singh has also staked claim to become the CM. Thus, while his intentions may add to the unease of Naib Singh Saini or other BJP leaders, there is an opportunity for the BJP to solve the political equation in South Haryana. In 2017, the BJP similarly undid the multi-caste equation in UP by creating confusion in the face of the Chief Minister. BJP has tried this formula in many states.
BJP has not announced the Chief Minister’s face
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Haryana, the BJP has replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini. Naib Singh Saini hails from the Saini community of OBCs. This time BJP has not announced any face as the chief ministerial candidate. However, Naib Singh Saini, who is in charge of the power, is working with full strength. He hails from Haryana’s GT belt, where the BJP faced defeat last time too. In such a situation, BJP is trying to get OBC votes by fielding Naib Singh Saini, while Rao Indrajit Singh has also staked his claim.
Rao Indrajit Singh hails from the Yadav community, which is slightly larger than the Saini community. The BJP has so far given tickets to five leaders of the Yadav community. He also uses this power to dispose of his opponents. The BJP leadership is upset with this. For this BJP has activated its two Yadav leaders Bhupendra Yadav and Sudha Yadav in Haryana. Sudha Yadav defeated Rao Indrajit Singh in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections. The three Lok Sabha constituencies are Gurugram, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh and Faridabad. BJP has won all three seats in the Lok Sabha elections held this year. Rao Indrajit Singh is believed to have played a major role in BJP’s victory. In such a situation, BJP is trying its best to take advantage of its political base.
